Your pictures and comments as usual, are brilliant. I would like to add a personal story. I spent a few days in hospital under observation. In a four bed ward was a Russian woman, a born and bred Israeli, an Arab and myself from South Africa. Four women in a cacoon for three days free to discuss every and any subject important to women anywhere in the world, children, husbands, religion, customs, prices in the supermarkets – nothing was off-limits. We were treated by Russian, Israeli and Arab doctors and nurses. The point I make is that there was no tension, no hatred just four women talking and bonding as women do……… we could make peace, we really could.

With all the violence spreading around us, the world has become immune to blood and death. It has become part of everyday life. Slaughtered men, women and children dying in the streets of Syria, Yemen, Pakistan – starving people in Somalia, wars all over the world don’t seem to mean much to the world. Anything to do with peace and beauty is meaningless today. Violence on TV, in the streets and in our lives is too commonplace and we watch people dying on TV while eating dinner. Although it seems that all eyes are on Israel and we are a bit paranoid about all the evil on our doorstep, I would presume that all over the world, most people are carrying on with their daily lives and barely give us a second of their time.
At this new UN conference on racism, will Israel once again be singled out as a racist state ? YES, AND WHY, BECAUSE THEY CAN, BECAUSE WE LET THEM – LET’S FACE IT, OUR PR IS NOT THE BEST. WE WAIT TOO LONG TO ANSWER BACK AND WE ARE NOT FORCEFUL ENOUGH. WE NEED TO BANG OUR FISTS ON THE TABLE TO MAKE OUR TRUTH HEARD AND BELIEVED.
Does the UN care at all about the truth? NO, But as you mentioned, they and the world have conveniently forgotten that the Arabs were granted their portion of land in 1948. The Arabs refused partition and chose war. Look at our country which we built during those years, vibrant, hi-tech, modern with A+ economy. Arabs hopefully, have realized that they have lost precious lives and wasted their time and energy in inciting atrocities against Israel, and the only way forward is peace and security without violence.

(Excerpts of an article by The Media Line, September 12, 2011)

For Hamas, Silence on Statehood Is Golden

Hamas is quietly backing the bid by its arch-rival, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, to win recognition of statehood from the United Nations this month because the movement stands to gain no matter how Abbas’s plans turn out, analysts said. Musa Abu Marzuk, Hamas’ deputy political bureau chief criticized Abbas [Abu Mazen] for not consulting Hamas.

But the Islamic movement, which seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 and opposes the existence of Israel, has officially refrained from taking a position on statehood. For the movement, silence is golden.

If the statehood vote is successful, Hamas can bask in the glow, many analysts said. The movement could even inherit a UN-recognized state next spring if Palestinian elections go ahead as scheduled and Hamas wins. If the statehood drive fails, Abbas can suffer the humiliation of defeat alone.

“In the inner circle, Hamas figures are skeptical the bid will succeed. They actually [have] very much hope that Abu Mazen fails in his bid to attain a Palestinian state because that would then delegitimize him and his approach and strengthen Hamas and its resistance approach,” Mkhaimar Abusada, a political scientist at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, told The Media Line. “But if he succeeds, Hamas will say, ‘From the beginning, we were not against it’.”

The two sides disagree on how to deal with Israel. Hamas hopes to defeat the Jewish state through violence, while Abbas favors a negotiated solution. Jamil Rabah, director of the Ramallah-based polling group Near East Consulting, said their monthly surveys have shown a dramatic drop in support for Hamas since January 2011.

“But that doesn’t mean if there were elections that Hamas would lose. Hamas might win because there is a difference between attitude and behavior,” Rabah said. This scenario is exactly why Boaz Ganor, the director of Israel’s International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT), says Abbas is adamant about pursuing statehood, even though he risks losing U.S. financial assistance. The president is more concerned with how he is remembered in the history books. “He wants this declaration to be remembered as the one he was responsible for.”

He has announced he will not run again in the next election set for May. Despite the public opinion polls, Ganor predicted that Hamas would win the elections and also the presidency. “I’m quite convinced that there is no other figure in the Fatah organization that actually can win the election facing Hamas,” Ganor said. Abusada said a Hamas victory in the next election would find them with a prize of international recognition won by Abbas.

This is my first visit and I came over from Spiderdama. What an excellent post….short, sweet and to the point! I wish the world would wake up and have eyes to see and ears to hear and recognize what is true and good….